The Sansui AU-9500 (Circa 1973)
In my thirty plus years as an audiophile enthusiast, I’ve had the pleasure of owning many hi-fi integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers, including the following:
NAD/Parasound/Pioneer/Carver/Crown/Yamaha/Harman- Kardon/Onkyo/Sony - to name a few.
I’ve also been fortunate to own the following Sansui products:
B2102, B2102 MOS Vintage, AU-X901,AU-X1, AU-Alpha 607 MOS Limited, AU-Alpha 707XR, AU-Alpha 607NRA, AU-517, AU-717, AU-919, AU-317, AU-217, AU-D11, AU – D11 II, AU-G99X, AU-G90X, AU-11000, AU-9900 (out of this bunch the one I kept is the B2102 MOS Vintage - I would have kept the AU-X1 but it has no tone controls -I believe integrated amps should have tone controls).
After picking up the AU-9500 from Tom’s and auditioning it, I have to reiterate what has already been said on the “Best of Sansui” website – “Sound-wise, it was the extension of the single number three digits series, and had rich tube like low frequency with the natural mid to high sound. It seems being reached to the maturity of the first generation of solid state amplifiers.
The AU-9500 did not have more elaborate circuitries Sansui developed some years later; however, it was well designed and well built. The AU-9500 reproduces traditional tube like sounding image; very powerful especially in the lower frequencies. The AU-9500 was the top of the line model when Sansui’s founder and perfectionist, Mr. Kosaku Kikuchi, retired in 1974. His product philosophy was “Let the products speak themselves.”, and the AU-9500 was his last jewel that satisfied his highest expectation.
I felt compelled to wright this because I’ve heard many people “poo – pooing” Sansui products, (Yes they did build some real junk in the later years when the market fell, but they also manufactured some incredibly built and sounding equipment in their heyday (their overall mission was to build a solid state amplifier that sounded exactly like a tube amplifier – and I as well as many other enthusiasts believe their accomplishment has been made.
Yes Tom, this one’s a keeper – can’t wait to compare it to the new Lightstar
